Many are simply lying around online, in databases, fansites and blogs. Others are contained in books (remember them?). But several more have to be researched, especially in the case of categories that nobody's bothered to investigate before.

So, here we have Oscar winners by ideology, orientation, physical and/or psychological state and character lifespan. We have the blondes and the baldies, the all-time losers and the rare non-American victors. We have sources and certificates, studio rivalries and TV ratings.

Had there been room, we'd also have told you which left-handers have clutched Academy Awards. And if only Kate Winslet had been nominated for Sam Mendes's Revolutionary Road, we could have told you that she stood almost no chance of winning because wives are routinely denied an Oscar in a film directed by their husbands – just ask Elisabeth Bergner (Paul Czinner's Escape Me Never, 1935), Joanne Woodward (Paul Newman's Rachel, Rachel, 1968), Jean Simmons (Richard Brooks's The Happy Ending, 1969), Gena Rowlands (John Cassavetes's A Woman Under the Influence, 1974 and Gloria, 1980) and Julie Andrews (Blake Edwards's Victor Victoria, 1982). The only exception is Frances McDormand, who won for her leading role in Joel Coen's Fargo (1996).

We might also have advised you to place a bet on Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, as Woody Allen has a fine track record in the supporting categories, as winners Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine and Mira Sorvino can testify. Indeed, 15 different actors have been nominated for performances in Allen's pictures. But that still puts him way down the league table behind William Wyler (36), Elia Kazan (24), George Cukor (21) and Fred Zinnemann and Martin Scorsese (20 each).

And it's still not to late to acclaim Stephen Daldry for becoming the first director to be nominated with his first three features – Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002) and The Reader – and draw comparisons with Teresa Wright, who matched his feat with best supporting actress nods for The Little Foxes (1941), Mrs Miniver and The Pride of the Yankees (both 1942). Nor should we overlook the fact that if The Curious Case of Benjamin Button fails to win best picture, then Kathleen Kennedy will become the least successful Oscar producer of all time, alongside Pandro S Berman, Stanley Kramer and George Stevens, who have all missed out six times.

But, anyway, in case those facts that did make it into our interactive have piqued your curiosity, here they are, explained, in all their detailed glory.

And, just in case you think some of the figures don't add up, please note that there are not equal numbers of best picture winners (81), best actor winners (82 - the award was shared one year) and best actress winners (80 - they didn't start till a year later). There have been 60 best foreign film awards given out so far, and 465 best picture nominees to date. Plus, of course, some people have won the best actor or best actress awards multiple times ...

OSCAR BAIT

The number of best actor or best actress winners who have won for playing:

Best actress Oscars award for playing a character who dies in the film

Misery. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Luise Rainer (The Good Earth)Jennifer Jones (The Song of Bernadette)Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!)Simone Signoret (Room at the Top)Kathy Bates (Misery)Nicole Kidman (The Hours)Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)

Best actor Oscars awarded posthumously

Peter Finch (Network)

BOX OFFICE V THE ACADEMY

Titanic. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Statistics since 1980 showing the difference in box-office take between the No 1 film that year and that year's best picture winner. The figures are domestic total gross for the year a film won an Oscar or topped the charts.

Plays

CavalcadeYou Can't Take It With YouCasablanca (unproduced play)HamletWest Side Story (play and musical play)My Fair Lady (play and musical play)The Sound of Music (musical play)A Man for All Seasons Oliver! (book and musical play)Driving Miss DaisyChicago (musical play)

Books

The Godfather. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

All Quiet on the Western FrontCimarronGrand HotelMutiny on the BountyThe Great ZiegfeldThe Life of Emile ZolaGone With the Wind How Green Was My Valley The Lost Weekend The Best Years of Our Lives Gentleman's Agreement All the King's Men From Here to Eternity Around the World in 80 DaysThe Bridge on the River Kwai Gigi Ben-Hur Lawrence of Arabia (The writings of TE Lawrence)Tom Jones In the Heat of the Night Midnight Cowboy Patton The French Connection The Godfather The Godfather: Part Two One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Kramer v Kramer Ordinary People Terms of Endearment Out of Africa Dances With Wolves The Silence of the Lambs Schindler's List Forrest Gump The English Patient A Beautiful Mind The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King No Country for Old Men

Short stories

Rebecca (novella)Million Dollar Baby

Magazine articles

Mrs Miniver (newspaper column)

Original material

Annie Hall. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

WingsBroadway MelodyIt Happened One Night Going My WayAll About Eve (albeit from uncredited short story) An American in Paris (albeit from uncredited Gershwin suite) The Greatest Show on Earth On the Waterfront (albeit from newspaper articles) The Apartment The Sting Rocky Annie Hall The Deer Hunter Chariots of Fire Gandhi Platoon The Last Emperor Rain Man Unforgiven Braveheart Titanic Shakespeare in Love American Beauty Gladiator Crash

1960s

1970s

Cabaret. Photograph: Kobal

M*A*S*H The French Connection A Clockwork Orange The Last Picture Show The GodfatherCabaret Deliverance The Exorcist Cries and Whispers The Godfather: Part Two Lenny Chinatown Dog Day Afternoon One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Taxi Driver The Deer Hunter Midnight Express An Unmarried Woman Coming Home Apocalypse Now All That Jazz

1980s

Raging Bull Fatal Attraction Mississippi Burning Born on the Fourth of July

1990s

Goodfellas The Silence of the Lambs Bugsy The Crying Game Pulp Fiction Fargo LA Confidential American Beauty The Green Mile

Best picture

Made in the US: 72

Richard Attenborough and Ben Kingsley with their Oscars for Gandhi. Photograph: Allstar

Rest of the world: 17(Eight winners with no US involvement, nine co-productions with some US involvement)Hamlet The Bridge on the River Kwai (UK/US)Lawrence of ArabiaTom JonesA Man for All SeasonsOliver!Chariots of FireGandhi (UK/India)Platoon (UK/US)The Last Emperor (China/Italy/UK/France)The English Patient (US/UK)Shakespeare in Love (US/UK)Gladiator (UK/US)Chicago (US/Germany)The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (US/New Zealand/Germany)Crash (US/Germany)The Departed (US/Hong Kong)

Our guide to odd Oscar data, as unearthed by film historian David Parkinson. Please note: the vagaries of history mean there aren't equal numbers of best actor, best actress and best picture winners. And that one man or woman can win the same award twice, perhaps even changing their hair colour, or slipping on a toupée, in the interim ...

Thirteen Academy Awards speeches, and not an agent thanked once. Can you guess the lucky winner from these Wordles? (The font size is in direct relation to the frequency of their use.) Answers at the end ...